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  • AMTRAK NEC: Springfield Shuttle/Regional/Valley Flyer/Inland Routing

  • Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.
Discussion related to Amtrak also known as the National Railroad Passenger Corp.

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, mtuandrew, Tadman

 #1449765  by johndmuller
 
So, does this mean that to get the best fare, passengers continuing beyond New Haven on Amtrak should take Amtrak trains and those continuing beyond New Haven on Metro North should take CTRail trains?
Or are the trains all the same and you can pay the New Haven portion of your trip with whichever kind of ticket works for you?
 #1449786  by gprimr1
 
I would expect it will work like it always has.

You can buy a ticket on Amtrak from your destination to an Amtrak served destination on the line and the price includes the NHV North part. In exchange, you get the timed, cross the platform transfer.

Or

You can buy a ticket to NHV and switch to CTRail on your own.
 #1449853  by johndmuller
 
I guess I didn't ask that right.

I take it that there will be several types of trains: Amtrak operated Amtrak LD trains, i.e. the Vermonter; Amtrak operated (on behalf of the State of Connecticut) Springfield-New Haven shuttles; and the new service CTRail/ConnDOT whomever operated (on behalf of the State of Connecticut) Hartford line service between Springfield and New Haven. Each of these three categories is a different operation, right(?), with different, but some overlapping station-stops, and different fare structures?

So if I were at some intermediate point in Connecticut, say Berlin or Hartford, and wanted to go to NY City, I could buy a ticket using any of these trains, but depending on whose train it was and whether I wanted to go to Penn Station or Grand Central, there would possibly (probably) need to be a separate ticket for the New Haven to New York portion and the fares are going to be different. If all three of these services have different pricing/ticketing policies, aren't trips like this going to have a confusing variety of prices, the more so if you are going to someplace common to Amtrak and Metro North, like Stamford instead of NY City.

If the Springfield Shuttles and the new Hartford line service have different fare structures, isn't the State of Connecticut essentially competing with themselves? Assuming that the various trains are evenly spaced, rather than competing head to head, this will mean that a trip to Stamford or NYC will cost arbitrarily different amounts depending on when you take it and could require different kinds of tickets.
 #1449863  by CVRA7
 
Amtrak's "reservations required" policy will make it difficult to mesh Amtrak and CTrail Hartford Line services. If Amtrak doesn't sell the Hartford Line tickets as they do Shore Line East, I'll be surprised if the few remaining ticket agents will offer any information on the new service.
 #1449864  by bratkinson
 
For those riding to NY Penn from Springfield, my experience has been that the coach ticket price on all trains is the same price, regardless of whether a shuttle train (or bus) is used or a single through train like train 141 is used (subject to availability pricing, buckets, etc). However, the Vermonter is often more expensive due to less seat availability.

One could easily opt to ride CTRail to save some money going to NHV. Using CTRail also opens up better connections to Amtrak trains such as the Acela or any of the no-connection-to-SPG trains to/from Boston. And for someone going to Grand Central or any of the Metro North stations, switching from one commuter train to another is normal...just like the folks in Waterbury, Danbury, and New Canaan have been doing for years!
 #1449886  by njtmnrrbuff
 
If I need to ride to any station along the line, I will generally use MNR and CTRail since I live very close to NYC.

This spring, after the service begins, I am toying with the idea of spending a few nights at a hotel in a town along the SPG Line, just to railfan the traffic. One way from NYC, I’ll use the new service. I’ll use it to travel between stations on the line. I might take Amtrak heading back.
 #1449901  by GirlOnTheTrain
 
johndmuller wrote:If the Springfield Shuttles and the new Hartford line service have different fare structures, isn't the State of Connecticut essentially competing with themselves? Assuming that the various trains are evenly spaced, rather than competing head to head, this will mean that a trip to Stamford or NYC will cost arbitrarily different amounts depending on when you take it and could require different kinds of tickets.
How is this any different than taking Amtrak NHV-NYP vs. Metro-North to Grand Central? (Or Amtrak from NLC-NHV vs. SLE between the two) You want the quicker/more expensive ride, then show up and ride Amtrak. If you want the cheaper commuter ride, show up and ride the NHHS train. I suspect the same announcements you hear Amtrak conductors making at Stamford will be commonly heard on the Hartford line "This is Amtrak - make sure your ticket is right otherwise you'll be paying $60 to New York."

It seems like Amtrak is not going to be encouraging connections to the Hartford line, just like they don't encourage connections to Metro North now...so if you look up Amtrak schedules it's not going to show you commuter rail options and vice versa - it's doubtful MN/Hartford Line is going to give you Amtrak connection options. If you want to complicate the process by taking Amtrak then transferring to Metro North or the Hartford line instead of staying on an Amtrak train, then that's on you.
 #1449937  by njtmnrrbuff
 
Let me ask this question. Are SLE trains supposed to connect to Amtrak trains at NHV, OSB, or NLC? No. Don’t expect that to happen for those people who want to switch at New Haven from an Amtrak train to a CTRail train. There will probably be enough time to connect between most trains at NHV.
 #1449967  by Backshophoss
 
Amtrak Springfield shuttles connects to Amtrak at New Haven,believe the ConnDot's New Haven-Hartford service connects to MN at New Haven.
SLE connects to MN at New Haven and Stamford(select SLE trains).

A short wait will be needed to connect to Amtrak from ConnDOT's New Haven-Hartford service or from Amtrak to New Haven-Hartford service
at New Haven.
 #1450039  by Kilo Echo
 
shadyjay wrote:Amtrak will be moving to the new CTRail commuter station in Wallingford, about a mile north of the existing station, effective 11/6/2017.

https://www.amtrak.com/alert/wallingfor ... -move.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Apparently, the northbound platform at Meriden was opened about the same time—without all the fanfare. Among the reasons for Meriden's soft opening is a three-foot gap between the train and the platform that requires the conductor's emplacement of a bridge to allow passengers to alight or board safely. The track will be realigned erelong; the work is expected to take roughly three days.
 #1450193  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
No...shifting the track. The platform is in its final position, but the track is not. They'll bring in a track machine which literally picks the connected track up in midair then plops it back down...then they quickly re-tamp the affected stretch and it's all set.
 #1450220  by radio
 
I was at the new Wallingford station today, and noticed that on track 2 they have installed a set of switches and a parallel track bringing the trains stopping there (?Northbound side only) closer by about 18 inches.
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